This Is How Democracy Dies

JVL's Law: Any person or institution not explicitly anti-Trump will become a tool for authoritarianism eventually.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is seen outside the Senate Chamber in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on February 28, 2024. He is announcing that he will step down from his leadership position in November, while vowing to serve out the rest of his term in office. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

1. Cocaine Mitch

Everything is incentives.

That’s the first advantage authoritarians start with. Their incentives are simple: power.

The authoritarian is not constrained by laws, or customs, or self-image, or ideology. The authoritarian wants only power for himself.

But normal, non-authoritarian actors in a functioning democracy have other incentives. They like power, sure. But they also might prize wealth. Or policy outcomes. Or professional advancement. Or ideas. They don’t have any interest in becoming a strongman.

Which means that a skillful authoritarian can align their incentives with his own.

That’s what Trump did with Mitch McConnell.

McConnell’s entire adult life was spent in pursuit of two goals: The placement of conservative judges in the federal judiciary and the advancement of the Republican party’s electoral prospects.

That’s it. Everything else—foreign policy, societal norms, the size of government, personal friendships, even money!—was secondary. That’s why McConnell kept Merrick Garland off the Supreme Court and pushed Amy Coney Barrett onto it without a second thought. That’s why McConnell endorsed Trump and worked to elect the kind of MAGA senators who would eventually push him aside. That’s why McConnell refused to convict Trump on his second impeachment.

Because in every case, McConnell’s actions conformed to his incentive structure: He got judicial power for conservatives and helped Republicans win elections.

All of McConnell’s other incentives—his legacy, the ideological tenets of conservatism, personal honor, the fate of liberal democracy—were second to those two core incentives.

Donald Trump understood this. Which is why Trump was able to use McConnell so effectively.

McConnell hates Trump. McConnell was never MAGA. McConnell is not in favor of authoritarianism. But none of that mattered because Trump was able to align McConnell’s primary goals with his own. And so in the end, McConnell became Trump’s tool just as surely as if he’d been a toadying true-believer.

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On The Next Level yesterday Sarah, Tim and I talked about Michigan and the new government shutdown crisis and a whole bunch of other stuff. Catch the show here.

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2. The Chief

The Roberts Court has its own incentives.¹